Integrating gender, improving services, impacting lives - gender equality strategy 2016-2021
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integrating gender, improving
services, impacting lives
gender equality strategy 2016-2021
integrating gender, improving
services, impacting lives
gender equality strategy 2016-2021
november 2016
iii integrating gender, improving services, impacting lives: gender equality strategy 2016-2021 © 2017 UNRWA This Strategy is based on the work of Meena Shivdas and Laura Maritano and developed by UNRWA, with financial support from UN Women and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID). About UNRWA UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance. Cover Photo: © 2013 UNRWA Photo by Alaa Ghosheh
united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east iv table of contents acronyms and abbreviations v executive summary 1 introduction 2 chapter 1: ges theory of change 4 chapter 2: drivers of change 6 chapter 3: gender mainstreaming for organizational change 11 chapter 4: gender mainstreaming for programme change 16 chapter 5: risks, assumptions and risk management strategies 20 chapter 6: ges monitoring framework 20
v integrating gender, improving services, impacting lives: gender equality strategy 2016-2021
acronyms and abbreviations
AOPs Annual Operation Plans MNR Married to Non-Refugee
CMM Common Monitoring Matrix OCHA Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs
ERP Enterprise Resource Planning
PCM Project/Programme Cycle Management
FHT Family Health Team
PRL Palestine Refugees in Lebanon
FO(s) Field Office(s)
PRS Palestine Refugees in Syria
GAP Gender Action Plan
PSS Psychosocial Support
GBV Gender-based violence
REACH UNRWA ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
GenCap Gender Capacity
system
GES Gender Equality Strategy 2016-2021
RSS Relief and social services
GFO Gaza Field Office
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
GFP(s) Gender Focal Point(s)
SFO Syria Field Office
GMS Gender Mainstreaming Strategy
SOPs Standard operating procedures
GTF Gender Task Force
SRHRs Sexual and reproductive health and rights
HCs Health Centres
SSNP Social Safety Net Programme
HQ Headquarters
ToC Theory of Change
HR Human Resources
TVET Technical and Vocational Education and
HRCRT Human Rights, Conflict Resolution and Training
Tolerance
UN CEB United Nations Chief Executives Board
ICIP Infrastructure and camp improvement
UNEG United Nations Evaluation Group
programme
UNRWA United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
JCP Job Creation Programme
Palestine Refugees in the Near East
JFO Jordan Field Office
UN-SWAP UN System Wide Action Plan on Gender
LFO Lebanon Field Office Equality and Empowerment of Women
M&E Monitoring & Evaluation VTCs Vocational Training Centres
MCM Management Committee Meeting WBFO West Bank Field Office
MTS Medium Term Strategy 2016-2021 WPCs Women Programme Centres
MHPSS Mental Health and Psycho Social Support
united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east 1
executive summary
The UNRWA Gender Equality Strategy (GES) 2016-2021 senior leadership and management, and programme
aims to make organizational culture, practices and and administrative staff in managerial roles, to bring
programme implementation more gender sensitive about changes to the Agency’s organizational culture
in UNRWA, so that the services provided are more and operations; and iv) gender accountability, to be
equitable and Palestine refugees – whether women, monitored through a framework for different levels of
men, boys or girls – can increasingly fulfil their needs gender mainstreaming actions.
and enjoy their rights.
More specifically, gender mainstreaming at the
The Strategy draws on gender equality work undertaken organizational level is aimed at developing gender-
thus far in UNRWA, in particular the Agency’s 2007 Gender sensitive organizational culture and management
Equality Policy, which commits the organization to practices and will focus on the following pillars: inclusive
promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, staff development, staff’s gender awareness and capacity
and the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy (GMS) 2008- development, staff safety and security, monitoring and
2015, under which gender mainstreaming efforts have knowledge, internal communications and participation
been advanced across the Agency in recent years. of staff, and outreach and participation of community
members. Gender mainstreaming actions for each of
The Theory of Change that underpins the new UNRWA
these pillars have been identified to ensure a systematic
GES 2016-2021 is built on a ‘dual-track’ approach
process for organizational change is put in place. In
that is designed to facilitate both organizational and
parallel, gender mainstreaming at the programme level
programme changes, which are seen as the two main
is aimed at strengthening the gender focus of service
levers for achieving more inclusive and equitable
delivery to Palestine refugees given the particular
services for Palestine refugees.
vulnerabilities and differing needs, interests, capacities,
The GES 2016-2021 also emphasises four ‘Drivers of and coping strategies of women and men, girls and boys.
Change’, which will provide the impetus and momentum Rigorous gender analysis using a vulnerability lens will be
for achieving change in programme implementation prioritized in mainstreaming gender across the strategic
and organizational practices. These four drivers of outcomes of the Agency’s Medium Term Strategy (MTS)
change are: i) strengthened gender architecture 2016-2021 so that empowerment, particularly of women
to ensure that gender structures and coordinating and girls, is enhanced.
mechanisms are geared towards providing technical
The accompanying monitoring plan in the annex will
inputs and facilitating implementation of identified
ensure that progress made in implementing the Gender
actions for gender mainstreaming; ii) appropriate
Equality Strategy is meaningfully monitored and UNRWA
allocation and monitoring of financial resources for
is in a position to report and provide the required
gender mainstreaming that are tracked through a
contribution to the United Nations (UN) system’s efforts
‘gender marker’ to ensure gender accountability; iii)
for gender mainstreaming.
leadership, including the commitment and support of2 integrating gender, improving services, impacting lives: gender equality strategy 2016-2021
introduction
Palestine refugees in the Middle East currently of Women (UN-SWAP) framework to monitor
face serious security, economic, social and cultural implementation of the CEB 2006 Policy across the UN
challenges, which have a profound impact on their system. UN entities are required to report annually
lives and affect gender relations. The protection of under the UN-SWAP against 15 common performance
women, men, boys and girls from gender-based indicators clustered around six broad functional areas.
violence (GBV) is a growing concern and has been Therefore, the Agency’s gender mainstreaming efforts
increasingly addressed by UNRWA in the last few years. are assessed on a regular basis through the UN-SWAP
Economic inequalities (e.g. increased unemployment, reporting process and this Strategy is aligned with these
poverty and food insecurity) and inimical sociocultural broader efforts.
developments (e.g. a rise in fundamentalism and
In this regard, the UNRWA 2007 Gender Equality Policy
the related entrenchment of patriarchal roles) leave
already commits UNRWA to promote gender equality and
women, youth, girls and boys facing challenges that
women’s empowerment. The policy was translated into
limit their full participation in economic, social and
the Agency’s first Gender Mainstreaming Strategy (2008-
cultural spheres of life and enjoyment of their rights.
2009), which was initially developed for a two year-period
Most of these challenges have already been identified
and then was extended to coincide with the timeframe
in the UNRWA Medium Term Strategy (MTS) 2016-2021.
of the MTS 2010-2015. In 2014, UNRWA commissioned
The UNRWA Gender Equality Strategy (GES) 2016-2021
an Evaluation of the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy. As
will therefore focus on programme and organizational
UNRWA has a new MTS for 2016-2021, the development
changes to address these gender inequality concerns in
of a new GES was decided upon to align it with the new
more depth and translate the MTS into practical action
MTS and the UN-SWAP. The diagram on the following
related to gender equality.
page, a Trajectory for Change, shows the evolution
The overall aim of the UNRWA GES is to make the Agency’s of gender equality processes in UNRWA and how this
organizational culture and management practices and Strategy charts out the future direction for the Agency.
programme implementation more gender sensitive, so
that services provided by UNRWA are more equitable and GES Structure
Palestine refugees – whether women, men, boys or girls
– can increasingly fulfil their needs and enjoy their rights. The UNRWA GES for 2016-2021 is structured as follows:
Building on efforts for gender mainstreaming already Chapter 1 elaborates the overall ‘Theory of Change’
undertaken by UNRWA in recent years, the GES draws (ToC). Chapter 2 focuses on the Strategy’s ‘Drivers of
on the substantial policy and programme-level work Change’, i.e. the factors that enable implementation of
on gender equality in the Agency. It is aligned with the the GES to create the desired change. These include
UNRWA Gender Equality Policy from 2007, contributes sections on gender architecture and financial resources,
to the broader MTS 2016-2021, is harmonized with the which explain the required organizational gender
new United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals structure and mechanisms for gender mainstreaming
(SDGs) and ensures that UNRWA is compliant with the and suggest a way for identifying and tracking
UN-SWAP framework for gender mainstreaming in the resources for gender mainstreaming in the form of a
UN system. ‘Gender Marker’. In addition, sections on leadership
and accountability outline the means to bring about
The GES drafting process involved extensive consultation change in programmes and corporate processes and
with the main UNRWA stakeholders – more than 200 staff a framework on reporting and accountability. Chapter
at the Headquarters (HQ) and field office (FO) levels – 3, on gender mainstreaming for organizational change,
engaged in gender equality in their daily work. identifies the actions required to bring about changes
in support services and procedures in the organization.
UN/UNRWA Gender Equality Policy, Chapter 4, on gender mainstreaming for programme
Strategies and Plans change, suggests the pathways for change in service
delivery programmes and is aligned with the Strategic
Gender Mainstreaming within the UN system is guided Outcomes of the MTS. Chapter 5 highlights risks for GES
by the Chief Executives Board (CEB) 2006 Policy on implementation and management strategies to address
Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. In 2012, them. Finally, Chapter 6 introduces the monitoring
UN Women led the development of the UN System-Wide framework for the GES.
Action Plan on Gender Equality and Empowermentunited nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east 3
unrwa work on gender mainstreaming:
a trajectory for change
What’s
UNRWA Gender Equality Strategy
next
Building on established structures through
the following drivers of change:
1- Gender Architecture
for
20 20 -
2- Gender Marker
16 21
3- Leadership
4- Accountability
Evaluation of GMS: Successes
1- Processes in place for institutionalizing gender
mainstreaming with an extensive gender focal
points system
2- Priorities for reducing gender gaps highly
relevant for UNRWA provision of quality
services
3- Success in addressing gender-based violence
(GBV)through referral systems, allowing the
identification of survivors and their access to services
4- Change in awareness and attitudes of staff
20
concerning gender and GBV
Evaluation of GMS: Challenges
1- Lack of resources
14
2- Strengthening gender focal points
3- M&E capacity
Gender 4- Accountability for the implementation
of the gender action plans
Equality
Policy
2007
Compliance with UN policies on
Gender Equality and Women
20
Empowerment (2006 CEB agreed
policy on Gender)
Every year, UNRWA joins other UN
13
agencies in reporting on the UN
Systems-Wide Action Plan on Gender
Equality (UNSWAP). In 2013, the
Agency's performance was above the
average for the whole UN system
UNRWA Gender Mainstreaming
20
Strategy (GMS)
Four levers for change:
1- A structure for change
08
2- Capacity-building
3- Outreach and communication
4- Gender analysis in planning
and programming4 integrating gender, improving services, impacting lives: gender equality strategy 2016-2021
chapter 1: ges theory of change
The Strategy’s ‘Theory of Change’ follows a dual-track and other external actors interested in gender
approach to gender mainstreaming, including changes mainstreaming. The development of a Gender
at the organizational and programme levels, which Marker will also be used to monitor resource
together aim to achieve more inclusive and equitable allocation and tracking of funds dedicated to gender
services for Palestine refugee women, men, boys and mainstreaming.
girls. As indicated in the diagram below, the Theory of
• Leadership for gender mainstreaming is envisaged
Change is organized around actions at different levels,
at the senior management level for corporate
which are interlinked and together will ensure the
processes and procedures, such as gender
successful implementation of the Strategy. In particular,
parity in staff numbers, corporate management
the GES aims to contribute to the improvement of the
objectives and compacts, and direction for strategic
human development of Palestine refugees and to ensuring
communications. Leadership for implementation
that their rights are protected without any discrimination
of the GES will be guided by senior management
based on gender differences (Vision), by enabling UNRWA
and anchored in the Gender Section within the
to pursue its mandate for providing services in a gender-
Protection Division at Headquarters.
responsive way. In other words, the GES aims at ensuring
that Palestine refugee women, men, boys and girls benefit • Accountability within the Agency (as opposed to
from more inclusive and equitable services responsive vis-à-vis external actors) for gender mainstreaming
to their specific needs and rights (Goal). The Goal will will be ensured through identified accountability
be incrementally achieved by making the Agency’s mechanisms, including assessments of annual
organizational culture and management practices more operation plans and consideration of gender
gender-sensitive and able to represent the different dimensions in auditing processes.
perspectives of staff and beneficiaries (Outcome 1) and by Given the above, specific actions will be implemented
delivering programmes and services that are more gender- to create change at both organizational and programme
sensitive and better tailored to the specific needs and rights levels. In order to have an organizational culture that
of women and men, girls and boys (Outcome 2) . is more gender sensitive, changes related to Outcome
As illustrated in the diagram on the opposite page, the 1 will be pursued in the different aspects of the
ToC envisages changes in organizational systems and organization’s corporate processes and procedures.
processes and in programmes and services. In order to Outcome 2 – the provision of programmes and services
institute these changes, the Agency’s management and that are more gender-sensitive and better tailored to the
staff efforts will be accelerated by the following drivers of specific needs and rights of women and men, boys, and
change (outlined on the left of the diagram), including: girls – will be achieved by mainstreaming gender within
UNRWA programmes. In line with the MTS, a specific
• The UNRWA Gender Architecture, which includes the
focus will be on vulnerable and at-risk individuals and
gender organizational structures and coordinating
communities including women, youth, children and
mechanisms of focal points at Headquarters and
people with disabilities affected by violence, abuse,
field offices. In particular, the gender focal points
neglect and exploitation, who will benefit from services
that comprise the Agency’s Gender Task Force (GTF)
that are gender sensitive and participatory and consider
will continue to constitute the main coordination
their empowerment.
mechanism for gender mainstreaming in UNRWA.
Capacity development of the GTF will be a priority Three types of risks – financial, security and cultural – to
for the GES. the implementation of this GES, and which would affect
the achievement of the Outcomes, have been identified
• Financial resources for gender mainstreaming will
and risk management measures built into the Strategy.
be secured by including such activities in funding
proposals and increasing partnerships with donorsgender equality strategy: theory of change
5
united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east
Financial Risk: Cultural Risk: Security Risk:
Insufficient financial and human resources for GES implementation Resistance to change by staff or community Security situation hampers UNRWA operations
1.1 Inclusive Staff Development: 1.5 Staff Participation:
OUTCOME 1: Increased gender balance among staff Increased participation
UNRWA and within representative bodies and ownership on
organizational gender mainstreaming
culture and
management 1.2 Awareness & Capacity: Increased
are more capacity of staff to apply gender concepts
gender-sensitive 1.6 Community Participation:
when Increased consideration for the
representing 1.3 Safety & Security: Increased safety concerns and perspectives GOAL: VISION:
both staff and for staff inside UNRWA facilities of Palestine refugee
DRIVERS OF Palestine The lives of
community & increased confidence to report abuse women, men, girls and boys
CHANGE: refugee Palestine
women, refugees are
1. Gender men, girls improved and
1.4 Monitoring & Evaluation: Increased information-sharing on effectiveness of and boys their rights are
Architecture gender mainstreaming to inform UNRWA operations receive protected
2. Gender inclusive and without any
Marker 2.2 Health: Health is protected and disease equitable discrimination
2.1 Emergency: services based on
Protection: burden reduced mindful of the specific needs of
3. Leadership women, men, girls and boys UNRWA responsive to gender
Specific emergency their specific
4. Accountability OUTCOME 2: rights of response needs and
UNRWA women, men, 2.3 Education: School-aged children complete quality, takes into rights
programmes girls and equitable and inclusive basic education without account the
and service boys under discrimination between boys and girls needs of
delivery are International in access, opportunities and outcomes. women, men,
tailored to the law are girls and boys
needs and protected
rights of and 2.4 Livelihoods & Economic Empowerment:
women, men, promoted Increased and equal livelihood opportunities
girls and boys through the strengthening of the capabilities
of women and men refugees
2.5 Meeting Basic Needs: Refugees are able
to meet basic needs without discrimination
on the basis of gender6 integrating gender, improving services, impacting lives: gender equality strategy 2016-2021
chapter 2: drivers of change
UNRWA will focus on four drivers of change as part of coordination through the regular exchange of ideas,
the GES, which provide the impetus and momentum for strategies and information on good practices;
achieving change in programme implementation and
• Strengthening GTF capacity for gender
organizational practices.
mainstreaming in coordination with the Agency’s
Human Resources (HR) Department;
2.1: Gender Architecture - Gender
• Providing guidance on the nomination of GFPs,
Structures and Coordinating Mechanisms emphasising the requirement for committed and
Current gender structures and coordinating qualified individuals with authority (P3/G12+ level
mechanisms: At HQ, the Gender Section in the Protection and above where possible); and
Division leads on Agency-wide gender mainstreaming
• Ensuring that the GFP role is part of the staff
processes. The coordinating mechanism for gender
member’s workplan and performance review.
mainstreaming comprises more than 70 Gender Focal
Points (GFPs) from different programmes and support At the field level:
departments at the HQ and field office levels, which make • Gender structures in FOs will be harmonized to
up the GTF that is coordinated by the Gender Section. the extent possible with those of HQ, including the
Current field-level gender structures vary from one field preferred option of being staffed by a field Gender
office to the next, and therefore, the GES will focus on Mainstreaming Officer, who is preferably an area
increasing the level of consistency and capacity of the staff member, with technical skills, capacity for
GTF to ensure that the GES is successfully implemented. coordination of mainstreaming, and management of
Gaps: The relocation of the Gender Section at HQ under the field GFP system. They would report to the Field
the New Protection Division, which was established Protection Officer (Mainstreaming) when gender
in January 2016, calls for harmonizing gender and mainstreaming is under the Protection Unit, to the
protection mainstreaming efforts. Not all FOs have Field Programme Support Officer when the function
yet reflected the strategic shift with congruent gender is under the Programme Support Office, or another
and protection structures and processes, and there section; and
are field-specific requirements that might impede • Enhanced field office coordination and oversight
complete harmonization. The selection of GFPs is also for gender mainstreaming will be achieved through
not based on whether the individuals in question have a high-level coordination mechanism in the form
the required capacity and authority to take gender of a gender task force/steering committee. These
mainstreaming decisions. coordination structures should complement and
Opportunities: The priority placed on protection in could be integrated with those on protection, child
the MTS provides an opportunity for strengthening protection and disability.
field gender structures and improving the GFP system. Focused Role for Gender Mainstreaming Officers and GFPs:
Furthermore, the UN-SWAP requirements on gender
architecture means that UNRWA must make certain These positions are critical for the implementation of the
changes to align its gender structures with these new GES and will focus on the following actions:
obligations. • Reinforcing, coordinating, and establishing (when
Proposed actions for strengthening gender it is not in place) a gender focal point system
structures and coordinating mechanisms representing the different programmes and relevant
support departments;
Coordination and Technical Support
• Increasing coordination and strengthening
The Gender Section in HQ will maintain its current mainstreaming processes, in particular on the
structure and lead on Agency-wide implementation of provision of gender analysis and assessment in
the GES 2016-2021 through the following actions: Annual Operation Plans (AOPs);
• Providing technical inputs to all departments and • Deepening work with installation managers and
liaising with senior management to ensure gender front-line staff to strengthen gender mainstreaming
accountability in programme implementation and in service delivery by providing technical advice,
organizational practices; capacity-building, and relevant guidelines and
• Providing guidance and technical support to checklists; and
the field gender structures and the GTF and leadunited nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east 7
• Intensifying outreach to area officers and managers • Include gender in funding proposals so that specific
at installations through focus group discussions to gender mainstreaming activities within programmes
identify gender issues in service delivery. are funded. This will be done by introducing a specific
gender mainstreaming section in UNRWA proposal
GTF Capacity Development
formats, the development of guidelines for the
The Gender Section and the Agency’s Human Resources submission of proposals, and the use of checklists to
Department will plan and prioritize GTF training, with vet proposals before they are submitted to ensure
specific focus on: they include gender analysis and activities; and
• Gender analysis in programme cycle management, • Prepare specific gender mainstreaming proposals
with emphasis on Monitoring and Evaluation for donors aimed at filling gender-equality gaps
(M&E) processes for field action plans for gender within UNRWA service delivery and programmes.
mainstreaming;
Proposed actions for tracking financial resources for
• Advocacy and communications skills training to gender mainstreaming – the ‘Gender Marker’
GFPs engaged in community outreach and who
Given the 2017 deadline for all UN entities to be UN-
work on gender-responsive service delivery with
SWAP compliant, the planned development of a ‘Gender
front-line staff; and
Marker’, which is one of the UN-SWAP requirements, will
• Gender and GBV in emergencies, including in be a priority for the GES. The Agency’s Gender Marker
deployment of gender surge capacity and roll out of will operate at two levels: a) track financial resources for
the relevant products to mitigate and prevent GBV assessing gender efficiency in service delivery and b)
in emergencies. draw on information from the Gender Marker to steer
discussions on gender mainstreaming in organizational
2.2: Financial Resources for Gender strategic planning processes.
Mainstreaming UNRWA has three funding sources: project funds,
Current financial resources for gender Emergency Appeal funds, and the Programme
mainstreaming: Funding for gender mainstreaming Budget. Each of these requires to be tracked to inform
activities in UNRWA service delivery and programmes organizational strategic planning review processes.
is currently ensured through: i) allocations made by Most interventions on education, health, relief and social
programmes on interventions within their remit that services, and infrastructure and camp improvement
address specific gender issues (e.g. the Department already target both women and girls. The Gender
of Education has assessed monitoring learning Section’s projects on addressing GBV are also delivered
achievements among girls and boys); and ii) raising extra through sectoral interventions (the main modality of
budgetary resources for specific interventions (e.g. funds gender mainstreaming). Based on information about
raised by the Gender Section for the establishment of UNRWA programmes, as well as administrative and
the GBV referral system in UNRWA). financial processes, and drawing on UN-SWAP and Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Gaps: Allocating dedicated funds for the implementation guidelines, the following three-point scale of coding will
of gender mainstreaming priorities in service delivery be applied to all projects and processes under the three
and programmes has frequently not been considered. UNRWA funding sources:
Furthermore, in terms of tracking financial resources
that are already dedicated to gender mainstreaming, • 0: Gender-blind – No visible potential to contribute
there is no system set up to monitor how these resources to gender equality. Gender and age are not reflected
are allocated and expended. in the project or only appear in the outcomes.
Opportunities: The UN-SWAP requirement for UNRWA • 1: Potential contribution – Project outputs will make
and all other UN entities for developing a ‘Gender a limited contribution to gender equality and the
Marker’ by 2017 for gender-sensitive tracking of financial empowerment of women and girls.
allocations and benchmarking is an opportunity to • 2: Gender equality mainstreamed – a) Project outputs
leverage and track resources. have gender equality as an outcome with some
Proposed actions for mobilizing financial resources outputs specifically addressing gender issues and
for gender mainstreaming: b) project outputs are designed to solely promote
gender equality and the empowerment of women
The Gender Section, along with the External Relations and girls as an outcome.
and Communications Department (ERCD), the
Department of Finance and the Department of Planning, • N/A: Intervention does not have direct contact with
will focus on the following actions: affected populations, including their employment,8 integrating gender, improving services, impacting lives: gender equality strategy 2016-2021
and does not directly affect or determine the use Management Committee Meetings. The Protection
of resources, goods or services used by affected Division will brief the senior leadership on a quarterly
populations. basis on the implementation of the GES 2016-2021.
The Department of Planning will work with the • The Executive Office will include in the MCM agenda
Gender Section on the processes for the coding of an annual session on the progress made through the
the Agency’s projects and interventions in line with implementation of the GES.
the new budget structure in UNRWA and related
• Achievement of gender parity among staff numbers
programmes, subprogrammes and sub-subprogrammes
will be monitored by an annual review of the gender
categorization. Guidance for the coding, including
scorecards by the Executive Office, the Director of
criteria and scales for each level, will be developed by
Human Resources, and senior managers.
the Gender Section in discussion with the programmes.
• The Deputy Commissioner-General (DCG), the
The responsibility for assigning codes to subprogrammes
Director of Planning, and the Director of Finance
and projects will rest with their respective managers who
will include the tracking of resources for gender
will coordinate with the Gender Section for technical
mainstreaming in annual budget hearings and
inputs. In terms of building capacity and training of
discussions.
managers in the Gender Marker coding system, the
Gender Section will draw on available guidance from the • The CG will share with senior management an annual
UN-SWAP to draft help-sheets and arrange orientation message on UNRWA performance on the UN-SWAP.
sessions for staff on how to code interventions in an
appropriate manner. 2.4: Gender Accountability
Implementation of the steps outlined above will Current gender mainstreaming accountability:
enable reporting information drawn from the Gender The Gender Section and field gender structures drive
Marker coding system to steer discussions on gender mainstreaming processes and duly report on progress.
mainstreaming in organizational strategic planning However, the lack of gender accountability mechanisms
processes, in particular the Annual Results Review, the within programme and support departments is not
yearly budgeting process and the funding allocations always explicit and makes it difficult for line managers
decision. In terms of reporting on the Gender Marker, and staff to systematically monitor performance on
analysis of resource tracking data will be incorporated in gender mainstreaming.
the overall reporting by UNRWA for the UN-SWAP and
for the Agency’s Annual Operational Report. Proposed actions for gender mainstreaming
accountability:
2.3: Leadership • Oversight for the achievement of gender
mainstreaming in results, processes and procedures,
Current leadership on gender mainstreaming: UNRWA including staff performance assessments, will be
leadership and senior management are supportive of provided by line mangers and needs to be included
gender issues and recognize their roles in maintaining in their corporate performance indicators.
oversight and providing strategic direction to efforts for
gender mainstreaming. This is reflected in the initiatives • Programmes and project managers will have direct
put in place to enhance accountability mechanisms responsibility for achieving gender mainstreaming.
through ‘Compacts’ for Directors signed with the • The Gender Task Force is accountable for providing
Commissioner-General (CG) emphasising oversight and technical expertise for gender mainstreaming when
responsibility for the achievement of results, including a the capacity exists.
focus on gender. The ‘Corporate Performance Objective’
for Directors and the Agency’s Team Charter also • The Gender Section is accountable to the Protection
provide opportunities for commitments towards gender Division, and in turn the Executive Office at HQ, while
equality in UNRWA. However, there could be further field Gender Mainstreaming Officers will coordinate
senior leadership steering for Agency-wide gender with the Protection Officer (Mainstreaming) and
mainstreaming. other staff who coordinate field-wide protection
mainstreaming and are accountable to the Field
Proposed actions to enhance leadership on gender Directors.
mainstreaming:
• The Gender Section at HQ will be involved in the
• The Executive Office will provide the guidance technical assessment of the performance of key
for HQ and field leadership initiatives for gender gender mainstreaming or gender focal points staff.
equality and enable sharing of good practices atunited nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east 9
Gender Accountability Framework Accountability for gender mainstreaming will be
ensured in the programmes’ quality control through
The Gender Accountability Framework as set out in
the Agency’s results-based monitoring (RBM) system
the diagram below identifies the functions, roles and
and the Annual Results Review process of the Agency.
responsibilities of the key stakeholders within the GES and
The Department of Planning will continue to ensure
the identified drivers of change. The Framework brings
that gender is mainstreamed in the Agency’s strategic
together technical support functions with coordination
planning processes and in its RBM. Furthermore
and streamlining processes, as well as leadership and
compliance with the Agency’s Gender Policy and
oversight to build an inter-acting system with varying
Gender Equality Strategy will be measured through
forms of accountability that will ensure results.
gender-sensitive auditing and evaluation aligned with
The UNRWA Gender Task Force, with its varying functions the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) and the
(Gender Mainstreaming Officers, Gender Focal Points, and United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) specifications.
Gender Section), will provide technical support and lead UNRWA directors will continue to have gender equality
on the implementation of the gender mainstreaming embedded in their annual Compacts with the CG
processes. Their accountability will be ensured through and the corporate objective, and this will have to be
staff performance reviews, which for the gender focal trickled down to other senior managers in the fields
points needs to include their tasks in terms of gender and programmes. UNRWA will continue to report on
mainstreaming as defined in the terms of reference of the UN-SWAP indicators and is committed to achieve
UNRWA Gender Focal Point system. requirements in all indicators by 2021.10 integrating gender, improving services, impacting lives: gender equality strategy 2016-2021
unrwa commitment to gender equality:
architecture and accountability
Positions and Offices Roles and Responsibilities Accountability Mechanisms
Technical Support
Gender Section Lead on defining process Performance review
Lead coordination of Gender Task Force Reports on implementation of
Provide technical support the Gender Equality Strategy
Build capacity Annual results review
Gender Focal Point Support gender mainstreaming in Include gender mainstreaming
(in programme and their programme and division in fields in e-PER
support services) and HQ
Gender Mainstreaming Coordinate the Gender Performance review includes
Officer (Gender Officer/ Focal Point system technical supervision from
Lead Gender Focal Point) Provide technical support to Head of Gender Section
programmes on gender mainstreaming
Coordination and Streamlining Processes
Protection Officer Coordination and streamlining Performance review
of Gender mainstreaming among Reports on implementation of
other protection cross-cutting issues the Gender Equality Strategy
Annual results review
Programme Coordination role Include gender mainstreaming in
Support Office Mainstreaming processes in strategic Terms of Reference and e-PER
planning, RBM and results review
Leadership and Oversight
Executive Office Oversight Results review
Senior Management for Leadership, internal communication Compact with CG
Programmes and Field Corporate objective and ‘score card’
Offices and Programme Gender-sensitive auditing
Chiefs Gender-sensitive evaluation
Area Chiefs Leadership, communication Corporate objective
with communities
Department of Planning Gender included in planning Gender mainstreaming incorporated
of organizational processes in strategic planning and
programming processes/PCMunited nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east 11
chapter 3: gender mainstreaming for
organizational change
Gender mainstreaming at the organizational level is that is being developed – in particular, a) performance
aimed at developing a gender-sensitive organizational assessment system (e-Per), which enables a gender
culture and management practices within UNRWA focus; b) the need to meet UN-SWAP requirement in
(Outcome 1 of the Theory of Change) and will focus on terms of gender balance; c) the recruitment policy,
the following pillars and outcomes. which states that when two applicants are equally
suitable for a role, priority should be given to addressing
Intermediate Outcome 1.1: Increased gender gaps; d) the current attempt in some field offices
to include more male health staff and more effectively
Gender Balance among UNRWA Staff and
involve men in Family Health programmes; and e) the
Its Representative Bodies low representation of women’s leadership in the Unions,
Current gender mainstreaming for human resources which also affords a chance to advance gender interests.
and staff career development: The UNRWA 2008 Human Proposed actions for human resources and staff
Resources Gender Policy and Implementation Strategy career development: Gender-sensitive organizational
outlines guidelines for recruitment, compensation culture needs more women in senior positions and in
and classification, performance management, career non-stereotyped posts and an increased gender balance
development, training and development, work/life among UNRWA staff and within its representative bodies,
balance, and procedures for dealing with discrimination including the Unions. This will be achieved as part of the
and harassment in the workplace. Not all staff are aware of GES through:
the Policy and their obligations under it. Gender balance
at different levels among all staff is tracked via a Gender • Review of the recruitment processes – drafting of
Score Card (Human Resources, Planning and Gender job profiles, advertisements, interview reports and
Section) and the Agency reports this yearly through hiring strategies to inform and support an increased
inputs to the Secretary-General Report on ‘Improvement gender balance;
of the Status of Women in the United Nations System’. • Dissemination of information on the selection of
Gaps: Gender balance has not been achieved within candidates in the recruitment policy among senior
UNRWA senior management – the 2014 Gender management, staff and interview panels;
Score Card showed that only 29 per cent of directors • Managers facilitating provision of coaching and
were women, while in 2015 that percentage dropped career development opportunities to staff for non-
further to 19 per cent. Across all professional grades gender-stereotyped roles;
for international staff, by the end of 2015, men far
outnumbered women – 98 women to 122 men. Of the • Inclusion of a more effective gender-mainstreaming
30,000 area staff across the Agency, there is more or process in the e-Per of key staff depending on
less gender balance; however, the numbers of women their roles (see diagram on architecture and
in senior positions (UNRWA Grade 16 and above) is low, accountability);
below 30 per cent (by the end of 2015) in most instances. • Carrying out of head-hunting with more focus on
In short, there is a gender imbalance among both sourcing candidates based on gender concerns
international and area senior staff. through linkages with UN rosters for senior positions
Staff employment often follows gender-stereotyped for women, talent search firms, academia, private
patterns – for example, very few women are in sector, etc.;
management positions in the Finance Department, • Increased outreach and/or advocacy with the
while very few men are employed as nurses. There are far Unions to encourage the increased participation of
more women area staff members in education (12,339) women; and
than men (9,644), reflecting the higher number of
female teachers. There is also an imbalance in women’s • Staff career development that will be gender
leadership in staff representation structures, including mainstreamed through consideration of support
staff unions. for developing academic qualifications, including
through relevant leadership programmes as an
Opportunities: Strengthening gender equality in equivalent qualification for certain posts for under-
human resources policies and practices provides represented staff.
opportunities through the UNRWA People’s Strategy12 integrating gender, improving services, impacting lives: gender equality strategy 2016-2021
Intermediate Outcome 1.2: Increased Intermediate Outcome 1.3: UNRWA Staff
Staff’s Gender Awareness and Capacity Feel Safer and More Protected In UNRWA
(Focus On Middle Management Within Area Facilities and Feel Confident to Report
Staff) Abuse
A fundamental step towards achieving a more gender- Safety and security of staff is paramount in humanitarian
sensitive organizational culture is enhancing gender and human development situations, especially in areas
awareness and capacity of staff and acknowledging of armed conflict. UNRWA has to ensure that measures
good performance on gender mainstreaming through for safety and security of staff are not only in place, but
commendations. also gender responsive.
Current situation and gaps in gender awareness and Current gender mainstreaming for safety and
capacity: 15 per cent of the UNRWA HQ and field staff security has resulted in draft guidelines for staff and
were trained in basic gender awareness by 2009, and beneficiary safety in IDP shelters, which will be endorsed
since then targeted training for specific interventions, by management for roll-out in due course. GBV
such as addressing GBV, have been carried out. However, identification has been included in security emergency
there is still the need for gender training for front-line training as well.
staff, which has been highlighted during the consultation
Gaps: Despite the fact that information on incidents
process for this strategy.
of gender-based violence against UNRWA staff are
Opportunities: Training is continuously delivered in reflected in the Security Incident Management System
various forms (for example, e-training in ethics, which (SIMS) managed by the Department of Security and
includes the components that were in UNRWA gender Risk Management, there is no reporting on GBV, and
awareness training) by UNRWA to all staff. Staff training information from the SIMS is not regularly shared for
coordinators acknowledge the need for incorporating a analysis of trends.
gender lens in training content. Consideration of a system
Opportunities: Under the MTS 2016-2021, enhancing
of acknowledgement of good performance on gender
safety and security of UNRWA personnel is part of
mainstreaming by way of letter of commendations,
the effort of building a culture of partnership with
for example, will further encourage staff in their
UNRWA staff. The creation of the new Security and Risk
mainstreaming efforts.
Management Department is an opportunity for ensuring
Proposed actions for staff’s gender awareness and that gender dimensions of security are integrated in
capacity development: All technical trainings delivered UNRWA installations and elsewhere and women staff are
to UNRWA staff will be gradually revised and delivered, provided with security when they operate in remote or
ensuring gender concepts are mainstreamed and unsafe locations
examples in terms of consequences of discrimination,
Proposed actions for safety and security: Enhanced
success stories and challenges will be included. Priority
safety and security of staff within UNRWA’s installations
will be placed on delivering specific gender trainings to
will require:
installation managers and gradually to other key front-
line staff. These will include trainings on: • Working closely with the new Security and Risk
Management Department to ensure that gender is
• Gender concepts and theories;
mainstreamed in all aspects of safety and security
• Gender analysis, especially for needs assessments, management;
monitoring and reporting;
• Development of safety and security gender-sensitive
• Gender-sensitive language and communication; and checklists for security staff;
• Addressing GBV in its response, prevention and GBV • Reviewing/developing gender-sensitive safety and
in emergencies components. security policies and practices for staff and during
service delivery; and
Gender–sensitive tools for managers and front-line
staff will be developed, including checklists, standard • Recording security incidents in gender-sensitive and
operating procedures (SOPs), simple monitoring tools sex-disaggregated ways.
and reporting formats. A Capacity-Building Plan will be
developed and a system of commendations for good
performance on gender mainstreaming put in place.united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east 13
Intermediate Outcome 1.4: Knowledge and with beneficiaries, including groups of women
Information on Effectiveness of Gender and girls.
Mainstreaming Is Shared and Informs • Gender checklists will be developed to support the
UNRWA Operations definition of new interventions and the monitoring
of projects and programmes.
A more gender-sensitive organizational culture will be
sustained with greater availability and circulation of
gender-focused knowledge and data to inform UNRWA Intermediate Outcome 1.5: Increased
operations. Evidence-based approaches improve Sense of Ownership on Gender
effectiveness and will stimulate greater participation Mainstreaming among Senior and Middle
in gender-mainstreaming from UNRWA staff and Management and Front-Line Staff
beneficiaries.
Improved internal communications will increase staff
Current gender mainstreaming in terms of participation in the gender mainstreaming effort, which
knowledge management: Sex-disaggregated data are will contribute to their increased sense of ownership for
being collected for most UNRWA services (e.g. health the gender mainstreaming approach and the GES.
services and education), although some services do not
have sex disaggregation of all data. A monthly Gender Current situation of internal communications on
Bulletin is produced by the Gender Section and circulated gender mainstreaming: Communications on gender
among the gender network (gender advocates among mainstreaming is done via the Gender Bulletin, which is
staff ) and partners sharing best practice from UNRWA received by all gender focal points and those associated
fields of operations. with gender mainstreaming in UNRWA. In terms of wider
staff participation, staff become involved in gender
Gaps: In certain instances where sex-disaggregated issues when gender-related events take place, such as
data are available, they are not systematically analysed International Women’s Day in March and the 16 Days of
and therefore not used to identify gaps. In addition, Action on GBV campaign in November.
there is insufficient qualitative data collected, which
could provide insights into trends and patterns in access Opportunities: The Agency’s Internal Communications
to services or help identify obstacles preventing women, Unit in the Executive Office provides an opportunity
men, boys and girls from providing information on to include communications on gender issues that are
service providers, including on GBV. relevant to staff and would contribute to improving the
climate in the workplace and the adequacy of gender-
Opportunities: The Common Monitoring Matrix (CMM) sensitive service delivery to the refugees.
to measure progress against the MTS 2016-2021 will
ensure the collection of sex-disaggregated data for all its Proposed actions for internal communications and
main indicators. The GES also includes a monitoring plan staff participation:
(see chart 4), which builds on the CMM and will allow the • Inclusion of key messages on the GES and on effective
collection of disaggregated data on the effectiveness of gender mainstreaming, including qualitative
gender mainstreaming. REACH – the Agency’s Enterprise information, such as success stories, in products
Resource Planning (ERP) IT system – is also being produced through the organizational knowledge
reorganized, taking into account sex-disaggregated management and information sharing system.
data to enable the identification of linkages among
variables related to gender dimensions and better • Increased and wider internal communications and
analyse effectiveness and efficiency of services. exchange of experiences (good practices as well
as challenges) within HQ and among FOs. This will
Proposed actions for monitoring and knowledge: include the further dissemination of the Gender
• Relevant data analysis and production of knowledge Bulletin, the creation of an online platform for
on the MTS, using RBM sex-disaggregated data, will sharing best practices and cross-field visits.
take gender mainstreaming into consideration and
systematically provide information on gender gaps. Intermediate Outcome 1.6: Refugee
• Statistical information will be supplemented by the Women’s, Girls’, Boys’ and Men’s Concerns
collection of qualitative information, such as success and Perspectives Are Increasingly
and human interest stories, and shared widely across Considered in Service Delivery
the Agency.
Outreach to and increased participation of beneficiaries
• Gender-sensitive assessments across programmes – especially of women and girls who are often under-
will include information collected through focus represented in community decision-making processes –
group discussions and semi-structured interviews by providing valuable feedback on gender issues during14 integrating gender, improving services, impacting lives: gender equality strategy 2016-2021
assessment, planning and evaluation processes will women in the co-signing system for new homes in
strengthen service delivery processes and systems and Gaza are also opportunities and examples on which to
enable better targeting of vulnerable groups, including build more gender-sensitive outreach and beneficiaries’
women and girls. participation. The existence, since February 2012, of an
UNRWA satellite TV channel (http://www.unrwa.org/tv)
Current gender mainstreaming in outreach and
is also an important platform for developing gender-
beneficiaries’ participation: Communication for
sensitive communications for Palestine refugees,
outreach across the Agency is mainly done through
especially children.
programme implementation and public information
made available through the UNRWA website. Overall, Proposed actions for outreach and beneficiaries’
there is a stronger effort by UNRWA to improve participation: Actions for improving gender-sensitive
participatory processes and include the views of outreach and participation of beneficiaries include:
women and girls in its programming. For example,
• Creation of checklists for more gender-sensitive
the new Poverty Assessment for the Social Safety Net
communication with beneficiaries.
Programme (SSNP) is more participatory and considers
gender vulnerabilities (see Outcome 2 on Programme • Mainstreaming gender in information for
Change), while there are guidelines and some practices beneficiaries within UNRWA installations (e.g.
of community involvement in camp rehabilitation awareness-raising sessions about services).
planning. • Increasing gender-sensitive communication and
Opportunities: Under the UNRWA MTS 2016-2021, the information about gender issues for Palestine
fostering of a culture of partnership with beneficiaries is refugees through UNRWA TV and the training
seen as one of the pillars for achieving management and of public information officers (PIOs) on gender
operational effectiveness and the Strategic Outcomes mainstreaming.
of the MTS. Programme implementation information • Strengthening relations with women and youth
mechanisms, including camp committees, community committees, CBOs and other bodies in particular to
networks and community-based organizations (CBOs), involve more women.
provide opportunities for gender mainstreaming as part
of outreach and beneficiaries’ participation. Participatory • Creating and revising complaint mechanisms with
guidelines in camp improvement and efforts to involve the inclusion of gender-sensitive questions.united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east 15 UNRWA Good Practices for Gender-Sensitive Organizational Change Gaza Field Office (GFO) – Women beneficiaries’ outreach and participation: UNRWA Area Staff from Khan Younis have increasingly involved the overall community and women in decisions about the camp by supporting the creation of a Community Advisory Council, which has representatives from the camp. Twenty- five out of the Council’s 125 members are women. This has allowed the implementation of a camp rehabilitation plan, with the opening of five new streets and the creation of 25 recreational yards with community support and taking into account the needs of women and children. The UNRWA Women Gaza Committee, which has women beneficiaries and union and staff representation, is also a good practice of increased engagement with beneficiaries. Jordan Field Office (JFO) – HR & staff career development: Human Resources plans to include a mandatory gender question in all recruitment interviews and offer a key session on gender awareness during inductions. Given the need to increase women’s representation among area staff, with a focus on grade 16 and above, HR is currently reviewing recruitment reports with a view to analyse key information and questions, such as, “Why women are not applying, and if they did and were equally qualified, why were they not considered?” Efforts are also ongoing to increase international and external outreach to explore the private sector, NGOs and universities to attract more woman applicants. Lebanon Field Office (LFO) – Knowledge/beneficiaries’ participation: The LFO Department of Relief and Social Services commissioned the Gender Standby Capacity Project (GenCap) Adviser to conduct a gender assessment of intra-household vulnerabilities among Palestine refugees from Lebanon and Syria. The assessment focused on Palestine refugees in Lebanon (PRL), including Palestine refugees from Syria (PRS), to identify vulnerabilities of women and girls within a household and employed a participatory approach with beneficiaries across various camps through in-depth focus group discussions. Qualitative information was collected through 22 focus group discussions with UNRWA staff and PRS and PRL women, men, boys and girls, totalling 277 from three refugee camps – Buss camp (Tyre), Beddawi camp (North) and Burj Barajneh camp (Beirut) – on their roles and responsibilities, the different sources of power they use to survive and the decision-making process within the household. The assessment provided valuable insights for planning gender-responsive programme interventions. Syria Field Office (SFO) – Beneficiaries’ outreach: The Communications Team for SFO worked with the Field’s Department of Education on an advocacy project to raise awareness on gender issues for children in classrooms. The project brought together children from Syria and the United Kingdom, built capacity among students for advocacy and media production in eight weeks for them to share their stories and experiences on film (a one-minute clip on each child), and facilitated interaction via Skype to raise awareness on issues affecting their lives, such as child marriages, the school dropout rate among girls and the psychosocial effects of war on girls and boys. West Bank Field Office (WBFO) – Front-line staff capacity-building: Since 2010, the WBFO, with the lead of the Gender Task Force, carried out 7,000 gender trainings for front-line staff – doctors, social workers, engineers, teachers, etc. During a focus group discussion held with gender-trained social workers for this strategy assessment, the importance of training front-line staff became evident, as they all displayed a strong understanding of the gender vulnerabilities they encounter in their daily work and a strong commitment to identify and implement solutions.
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